Updated . Educational only — not tax, legal, or lending advice. Confirm figures with your CPA, the state revenue department, and a lender before you close.
Clear Title Means the Registry, the Bill of Sale, and No Surprise Lien
You are not buying a handshake. You are buying a registration the FAA will accept and a security interest your lender can record. The calendar is on the purchase timeline. This page is the record.
What gets searched
- The FAA aircraft record: registration, bills of sale, and security agreements.
- Releases of old liens. A paid-off loan that was never released still clouds title.
- International registry interests if the aircraft is the kind of collateral where Cape Town applies. Most pistons are an FAA-record deal. Do not skip counsel if someone says otherwise.
- The logbooks and 337s, which are not “title” but will stop a lender anyway.
What escrow does
Escrow holds the buyer’s cash and the lender’s wire. It files the registration and the lender’s security agreement according to the lender’s instructions, pays off the old lien, and pays the seller the remainder. You get copies. The seller does not get the money because the airplane “is already in your hangar.” Possession and title are not the same day unless escrow says they are.
If you are financing, the lender is a party to those instructions. Do not sign seller-friendly escrow instructions that disburse before the lien filing the lender requires.
Questions buyers actually ask
Does FAA registration prove I own it free of liens?
Registration is evidence of ownership the FAA accepted. You still read the recorded security agreements and get releases. Registration is not a guarantee of clear title.
Who pays escrow?
Negotiate it. It is small relative to a clouded title. Split or buyer-paid are both common.